The Sentinel (Jack Reacher #25) - Lee Child Page 0,59

his mirror every few seconds. There was no sign of a car behind him. No glinting of the setting sun on a windshield. No trace of headlights. Reacher came to a long, straight section so he pushed the gas pedal all the way down to the floor. The engine rattled and growled behind him. The steering wheel twitched and throbbed. He kept his speed up for as long as he dared and hit the brakes going into the next bend. He was a fraction late. The car pitched and squirmed. Its narrow tyres squealed. He emerged into the next straight half on the wrong side of the road, corrected course, and slowed to walking speed. He checked his mirror. There was no sign of a car behind him. He passed the spot where Marty had stopped. Checked his mirror. There was no sign of a car. He saw the entrance to the field he had cut across. There was no sign of a car. He accelerated under a bridge that had once been used to carry water for the crops. No sign of a car. Then the Beetle’s feeble beams picked out the tall shape of the Studebaker sign. Reacher eased off the gas. He wanted his pursuers to be clear what he was doing. Assuming anyone was pursuing him at all.

Reacher steered the Beetle through the gap between the old showroom and the abandoned gas-station kiosk. He stopped the car at a careless angle and climbed out, leaving his door open. He checked the kiosk to make sure Marty wasn’t still shackled to the water pipe then fetched the gas can from the trunk and took the water bottles, the T-shirts, and the flashlight from the passenger’s footwell. He left the passenger door open and made his way to the section of hoarding at the back of the showroom where he had seen the woman and one of the guys emerge when they fled. He tugged at the plywood. It was loose at one side so he enlarged the gap and squeezed through. He stepped into a large space with an arc of tall windows in place of a front wall. They were all boarded up. A range of tall display cases covered one side. The glass was broken and the shelves were bare. Reacher swept the flashlight beam around slowly and picked up a line of footprints in the dust on the floor. He followed them to a door at the far side of the showroom. It led to a flight of wooden steps. They’d seen better days. That was for sure. Their paint had long since worn away. There were cracks in their surface. The handrail sagged when Reacher touched it. He thought twice about going up. What he had in mind could be accomplished from the ground, given sufficient cover. But he was in the mood for something theatrical, not functional.

Reacher kept to the edge nearer the wall, where the steps should be at their strongest. He took them slowly, testing each one carefully before committing his weight. He crept his way to the top, which gave access to a hatch leading to the roof. He heaved the water bottles up and through. Then the gas can. Then he climbed out after them. The surface was flat. It had once been covered with some kind of silver coating. To make it waterproof, and to protect the building from the worst of the sun’s heat. Now the surface was dull and peeling. It was covered with leaves and twigs and assorted pieces of trash that the wind had somehow deposited there. Much of it had blown against the base of the wall that enclosed the whole space. It was three feet tall. Like the rampart on a miniature castle, Reacher thought. Which was just how he was planning to use it.

He crossed to the rear corner at the side of the building next to the kiosk and separated six bottles of water from the pack. He emptied them, then half filled them with gas. He cut two of the T-shirts into strips and fed them into the bottles, leaving plenty hanging over their necks. Then he lined the bottles up at the base of the wall and took one of the lighters out of his pocket.

Reacher’s plan was only missing one component. A target. He sat and waited and no car appeared in the gap below. He began to worry that he was on a wild goose